It has been said
that one’s good name is a precious thing to be protected at all costs.
The person who has spent more time than any other individual protecting
Calvin alumni names is Twylla Vandermolen Nieboer ’62. Since 1982, she’s
been the alumni records clerk and knows more about the first, middle,
last, maiden and nicknames of Calvin alumni than anybody else.

You should be
very glad that Twylla is your namekeeper.

Mike
Van Denend presents a special edition of the Outstanding Service Award
to Twylla Nieboer.

The Alumni Association
Board is pleased and made sure Twylla knew it by presenting her with a
special edition of the Outstanding Service Award this October.

And Twylla’s
response? "It has always been a joy to work at Calvin. I never get
up in the morning grumpy about going to campus. I’m eager to see my friends
and meet the people that come in the door during the day. I can’t imagine
being anywhere else," she said to the Board.

Lucky for you
and me.

Twylla grew up
in Peoria, Iowa and attended Calvin intent on being an elementary teacher.
She did just that for three years, at Oakdale Christian School in Grand
Rapids and later did tutoring and other volunteering in a number of school
settings. Along the way she married Will Nieboer ’61 and together they
raised daughters Kim ’88, Michelle ’91 and Jaci ’93.

The Herculean
task of getting alumni data from hard copy to computer had just been completed
when Twylla, looking for a part-time position to help with the girls’
tuition costs, joined the alumni office. But her efforts over the next
18 years would prove even more amazing.

There are over
52,000 personal records on the alumni database and Twylla cares for each
good name harbored there. She adds new address, occupation and educational
degree information, as well as marriages, births, deaths and now email
addresses. While that may sound to you like a simple data entry position,
I assert that since Twylla massages that alumni records file so carefully
and knowledgeably, her importance to the Alumni Association is inestimable.

It isn’t easy,
for example, differentiating between the 22 John De Vrieses in the alumni
files!

Give Twylla a
last name and I am certain that, in many instances, she will know where
that alum resides and probably could connect some other information, too,
such as relatives or occupation or current connection to Calvin.

One of the first
pieces of advice given to me as a rookie alumni director was to make certain
the computer records on alumni were accurate and as complete as possible.
"You can program all of the events you want," I was told, "but
if you can’t find your alumni and you don’t know what their interests
are, you might as well save yourself the effort."

That counsel
has remained with me and thanks to Twylla, Calvin’s "lost alumni"
numbers are so low as to be the envy of Associations from coast to coast.
She is particular, precise and protective. The "protective"
part of that sequence should make alums especially happy.

Twylla hovers
over Calvin’s alumni records like a lioness watching her cubs. The Association
gets asked weekly for information on alumni and she is ever vigilant,
making certain that only Calvin College and Alumni Association projects
have access to the data. Over the years, she and I have discussed many
issues related to the care and keeping of alumni records. You could not
ask for a more conscientious guardian angel.

Your good name
is of utmost importance to us. That’s why the right person among all 52,000
of Association members is on the job. If you need something fixed on your
file, want to track down that long lost residence hall friend or need
to get connected to alumni in your new hometown, Twylla’s just a phone
call (616-957-6474) or email away.

We hope God continues
to grace us with her gifts for a long while ahead.